Nithya Prem. S. R,
- Assistant Professor, Department of Education, Central University of Rajasthan, Ajmer, Rajasthan, India
Abstract
STEM is about science technology engineering and math all put together in school work. Small group talks are seen as a good way to help students learn in these classes but it depends on things like how much the teacher knows about the topic and whether they feel ready to lead the talks. We looked at photovoltaics for this which mixes all the STEM areas and connects to solar power as a clean energy option that could help a lot. Teachers took part in talks using articles and similar materials on the subject.It seems the goal was to build their knowledge and get better at running these discussions so they could try the same thing in their classrooms. Some parts of how that actually plays out might still be unclear though. The renewable side of it stands out but maybe not every detail got covered evenly in the sessions. The outcomes revealed that teachers actively engaged in substantive STEM discussions, dedicating the majority of their time to posing authentic questions related to photovoltaic topics that aligned with various science and engineering core ideas. They responded to these questions with detailed, elaborative discourse and took ownership of the discussions. Teachers ended up with a stronger grasp of photovoltaics than they started with. Their sense of being able to lead discussions also got better. It seems like both things happened together. That part is easy to miss but it mattered for the whole program. I am not totally sure how big the change was in every case. Furthermore, most teachers incorporated small-group discussions into their end-of-program lesson plans. Follow-up interviews conducted a year later indicated that a subset of teachers had significantly increased the use of discussions in their STEM classrooms. In conclusion, the study presents a significant contribution by employing a practice-based approach to professional development. This approach not only enhances teachers’ photovoltaic content knowledge but also equips them with the skills to effectively implement this knowledge through small-group discussions in their classrooms. Therefore, the findings highlight an innovative pedagogical strategy that could be employed to support teacher education and facilitate the development of enriched curricula for STEM students.
Keywords: Small-group discussion, practice-based teacher education, STEM discourse, instructional strategies, science and mathematics education
[This article belongs to International Journal of Trends in Humanities ]
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International Journal of Trends in Humanities
| Volume | 03 | |
| Issue | 02 | |
| Received | 11/06/2026 | |
| Accepted | 25/07/2026 | |
| Published | 30/07/2026 | |
| Publication Time | 49 Days |